Tom "The Fightaholic" Nguyen has never been labeled an overnight success. He has endured lots of failures along the way. Some people may even say that he looks like a natural athlete, but he is far from that.

In high school, Tom started his wrestling career with a 4-21 record and three of those wins were because the opponent didn't show up. After such a dismal season, Tom decided to continue. The next year, he improved to 8-15, and in his final season, he finished at 16-8. In his senior year, he earned The Most Improved Wrestler Award.

Even though Tom was a much improved wrestler, he didn't have the passion to pursue a college wrestling career. Fighting has always caught his attention, so Tom started to participate in the sport of amateur boxing.

When Tom started his amateur boxing career, he lost six matches in a row over the course of three and a half years before earning his first victory.

Learning a lot from his losses in the amateur ranks, Tom is now one of the most exciting professional MMA fighters to watch. His Asian-American heritage and fighting in the higher weight divisions definitely makes him stand out among other MMA fighters.

This page was last updated on May 30, 2008